A team from the Analytical Services Branch recently completed an analysis of the ABS National Health Surveys to find evidence on the association between health status and labour force status. Specifically, this involved pooling unit record data from the last three national health surveys and examining the relationship between long-term health conditions/health risk factors, and non-participation in the labour force. The analysis was conducted in collaboration with the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) and the Health Section.

The analysis adds to the wealth of information about the health-labour force nexus by incorporating age, period and cohort effects into the analysis, and by considering the effects of specific health conditions, risk factors and other socio-economic demographic factors not present in other studies. It makes use of pooled unit record data from the 1989, 1995 and 2001 NHSs. The pooling of data was done to account for age, period and cohort effects, and to give the study a richer sample from which the association can be examined.

A multiple logistic regression framework was used. This type of model estimates the odds (or probability) of non-participation in the labour force given a set of health status indicators (e.g. hypertension, asthma, arthritis, diabetes, cancers and anxiety; and risk factors like smoking, obesity, lack of exercise), socio-economic-demographic variables while controlling for age, period and cohort effects.

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